Academic Commons Search Resultshttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog.rss?f%5Bauthor_facet%5D%5B%5D=Knitter%2C+Paul&f%5Bsubject_facet%5D%5B%5D=Comparative+religion&q=&rows=500&sort=record_creation_date+desc
Academic Commons Search Resultsen-usSearching for the Common Thread within Religionshttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146244
Knitter, Paulhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13035Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000In conversations about religion and the manyness of religions, one often hears, in general as well as scholarly discussions, remarks about what all the religions have in common. It is generally taken for granted that despite the evident, often flamboyant, diversity of religions, there is something that they all share, or something that holds them together in what even scrupulous historians of religions call "family resemblances." The image of a "common thread" (or threads) is often used to suggest that if we look closely and carefully enough, we will find something that is understood to have a unifying quality. But when it comes to stating more precisely just what that common thread is--or even where we can find it or how we can search for it--conversations usually become vague or contradictory. In the reflections that follow, I will review why such conversations about the common thread within all religions bog down, why the search for such a common thread can be frustrating, even futile, i will first review what I think are failed attempts at locating that common thread and how those failed attempts have led many people to give up the search for what is common to all religions. Then, in the second and principal part of my reflections, I will outline how the search for what the religions have in. common is being renewed today. I will show that the search, as complex and frustrating as it is, is also very important and rewarding, especially in light of the discussions on globalization in this issue of ReVision.Comparative religionpk2256Union Theological SeminaryArticlesWhat Is German Protestant Theology Saying About the Non-Christian Religions?http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146256
Knitter, Paulhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13039Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000The following study hopes to serve as a stimulus to an ecumenical Christian Theology of the Religions by asking whether and how one segment of that theology is confronting the »other religions«. We will offer — from a »Catholic viewpoint« — a survey of present-day German Protestant attitudes towards the religions and weigh how these attitudes are clarifying the questions which are essential to a well-defined theology of the non-Christian religious world and to a theological dialogue with this world: What, if any, role do the religions play in the »history of salvation«? Can we speak of a genuine divine presence or revelation within the religions? And can this revelation be the basis for a faith-encounter with the Deity — i. e., for the attainment of salvation? — Or, more generally: must the Christian's attitude toward and encounter with other religions be basically positive or negative? And why? — What stance do contemporary German-speaking Protestant theologians take to all these questions?Theology, Comparative religionpk2256Union Theological SeminaryArticlesKey Questions for a Theology of Religionshttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146268
Knitter, Paulhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13024Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000Given the spate of studies seeking to elaborate a theology of religions that have appeared over the last five years, it is evident that the question of the "many religions," like that of the "many poor," is one of the issues that most disturb, and therefore can most invigorate, Christian consciousness. In what follows, I would like to review and analyze what I think are some of the pivotal issues in Christian efforts to come to a clearer, more adequate and coherent, understanding of other religions and of Christianity in the light of other faiths.Theology, Comparative religionpk2256Union Theological SeminaryArticlesA Dialogical Church: Newly Born and Still Growinghttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146283
Knitter, Paulhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13029Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000As I look back over the past quarter century, since the birthing of Horizons, I witness, from my personal theological perch, the concomitant birthing of what we might call a "dialogical church." Since the theological watershed of Vatican IPs Nostra Aetate, there has begun in the church, especially the Roman Catholic Church, a sea-change in its relationships with other religions. In this "Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions," a Christian church did something that no Christian church had ever done before in its two-millennia journey through history: it affirmed the divinely given truth and value of other religions and then called upon its sons and daughters, "prudently and lovingly" to engage in "dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions." This shift (some might call it an about-face) in Christian attitudes gave birth to a new kind of church—a church that gradually has come to understand itself as a religious community in conversation with other religious communities.Theology, Comparative religionpk2256Union Theological SeminaryArticlesConfirmation Through Conflict? Some Questions for the Dialogue of Touchstoneshttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146277
Knitter, Paulhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13027Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000My first reading of Maurice Friedman's essay produced much the same effects that are had—today, alas, so seldom—from a good sermon. I was downright inspired and enlivened with new insights and new hopes concerning the contemporary encounter of religions. With his image of touchstones, Friedman avoids academic annotated analysis and provides creative, practical theology. Though he does not indicate it through notes or references, he is very well acquainted with the literature and central issues in the contemporary discussion on "the many religions"—how to understand them and how to lead them to a more authentic and effective dialogue.Comparative religionpk2256Union Theological SeminaryArticlesSpirituality and Liberation: A Buddhist-Christian Conversationhttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146280
Knitter, Paul; Abe, Masaohttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13028Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000Paul Knitter and Masao Abe discuss Buddhism and Christianity.Theology, Comparative religion, Spiritualitypk2256Union Theological SeminaryReviewsHorizons on Christianity's New Dialogue with Buddhismhttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146274
Knitter, Paulhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13026Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000A survey of recent Christian literature on the dialogue with Buddhism reveals a conversation which is new in both spirit and content. This article summarizes these new directions in five areas: 1) the methodology of dialogue; 2) the nature of the ultimate and of religious language; 3) religious experience as an experience of selflessness 4) the value and need of acting in the world, and 5) the unique, salvific mediation of Jesus and Gautama. In each of these areas, suggestions are offered as to how the new insights from the dialogue with Buddhism might aid in clarifying questions and incoherencies in present-day Christian doctrine and practice.Comparative religionpk2256Union Theological SeminaryReviews